Saving money,Living a healthy green lifestyle, doing things you enjoy,
being greener, spreading the "green" around in more ways than one. I hope my blog inspires you to be greener!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Save $2,010 in 2010

I know its a bit early for me to start talking about saving money in 2010. Honestly why not? I say the earlier the better. Great thing happened today, I received my Womans Day magazine for January. I was already in the works with my own list so this came in handy. So here is a list of ways you can save money. Just think of all that money staying in your pocket. Ohhh what a wonderful thought.....

Reduce kitchen paper. If a family uses 1 1/2 rolls of paper towels a week at $1.25 a roll, your paying at least $98 a year for things your throwing away. Doesn't that sound silly? Reduce to one roll a month or better yet stop buying them. This will save you a ton of money and don't forget about saving all those tree's from being cut down. Simply use fabric hand towels and fabric napkins and simply wash them. Keep a clothes line in your laundry room and save on energy used to dry them. This easy idea is the first thing I ever did to become green, now look at me!

Unhook the cable. I know I know, breathe breathe! Just make a 1 year commitment to no cable TV. Just remember, now days there are tons of free channels and don't forget Hulu! Better yet, $50 a month is staying in your pocket! Thats a whopping $600 a year staying in your pocket!

Use rechargeable batteries. I can personally say this one saved me a bundle. They say Americans buy 3 billion batteries a year. Rechargeable batteries can be reused hundreds of times, saving you money and reducing waste.

Drop the landline. The average family spends $90 per month for home phones, cell phones, pagers and phone cards. If you have all those connections, maybe its time to join the 20% of American households that are only using wireless. Even if all you have at home is a single line with basic local service, you've been spending about $25 a month, and that adds up. It may as well start adding up in your savings account. Switch and you will save $300 a year.

Chop 'n' grate Did you know that when you buy already grated, peeled, fruit already cut up, and veggies already chopped, you pay about double what you would for whole items. So start buying whole items and quit being lazy. This alone will save you up to $260 a year.

While your at it, try to stop buying prepackaged anything. No more throwing food into the microwave or oven. This will save you a ton of money.

Cancel the gym. You know your paying around $35 a month whether you use the membership or not? There are easy ways to exercise and they are all free. Push-ups and sit-ups are free! How about going jogging? Take a jog around the block and make it even better with your ipod full of your favorite music. Even if you don't enjoy jogging, go for a walk. Play some football with the kids, have a great game of tag, or play peek a boo with your baby while doing sit ups and your baby on your legs. Better yet, get on the computer and find tons of free online work outs and training regimens.

Reduce dry cleaning. Better yet don't dry clean unless you have to. There are plenty of at home kits to dry clean in your own home. To be honest, ive never (yes I said it) taken any of my clothing in to be dry cleaned. Usually I simply wash on low tumble and air dry. I have neer shrunk or ruined any of my clothing doing this. You could save up to $120 a year by doing your own. Save even more by not doing it at all.

Think before you print. Most computers have a preference for printing. Draft, black only, etc. I print on "draft" 99% of the time. This saves me a bunch of money because I do not have to buy ink as much. When printing coupons, do you really need the fancy picture of the item? You only need the bar code! Want to save money on paper too? Take your kids papers that come home from school and flip them over and print on the blank side. I have not had to buy paper in months. I have 2 in school now and will have all 4 in school next year so I don't think I will have to buy paper ever again.

These few simple idea's should save you over $2,010 a year. Once you get the ball rolling you will be trying to save in every aspect of your life.

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About Me

My mother raised my sister and I all by herself. We were very poor but raised very well. I watched as my mom cut back on everything she could to get by. Grew up helping my grandmother with her large garden and canned everything we could. So when I got married and had 4 daughters of my own, I knew what I had to do. All those things I learned from watching my mom came flooding in. And ive been doing it ever since.
Readers Note: This is a hobby that I enjoy and do not make any profit from. I do this to help others try to get by with freebies or almost free things. My goal is to help as many people as I can get by with what little they have.

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